Aging in HIV 2020

Dr. Clotet received his MD (1976) and his PhD (1981), with a thesis on autoimmune diseases, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). That same year, his internship as an Internal Medicine specialist at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona coincided with the first AIDS case reported in Spain. This case was the catalyst for a career dedicated to this serious disease, first as head of the HIV Unit of the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital in Badalona (1987-2015) and then as founder and president of the Fight against AIDS Foundation (1992), which is now named as Fight Infections Foundation.

Dr. Clotet soon saw the need to go a step beyond patient care to conduct research aimed at eradicating AIDS. In 1995, with the support of “la Caixa” and the Department of Health of the Generalitat of Catalonia, he founded the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, which he still heads.  In addition, Dr. Clotet is also the clinical director of Infectious Diseases at the Metropolitana Nord area of the Catalan Institute of Health, scientific advisor to two IrsiCaixa spin-offs: Aelix Therapeutics SL and AlbaJuna Therapeutics SL and director of the Chair of AIDS and Related Diseases at the Universitat de Vic (UVic).

He has published more than 1000 papers in high impact international journals and his contributions to research have been recognized with the Josep Trueta medal to Sanitary Merit and the ‘Premi Nacional de Recerca’, among other awards.

Pedro Cahn has been Scientific Director of Fundación Huésped since 1989 and former President of the International AIDS Society (IAS) for the period 2006-2008. Former Head and current Consultant of the Infectology Division of the Juan A. Fernández Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is also Full Professor of the Department of Medicine, Infectology Orientation, of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires. Dr. Cahn has been involved in international HIV/AIDS conferences and working groups since 1989, including the 1st Conference on Pathogenesis and Treatment of IAS in Argentina and the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico, which he chaired. Likewise, on repeated occasions, he has acted as an advisor to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS. He is an Illustrious Citizen of the City of Buenos Aires and received the honorable mention “Senator Domingo F. Sarmiento” by the Senate of the Nation (2014).

Dr. Clotet received his MD (1976) and his PhD (1981), with a thesis on autoimmune diseases, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). That same year, his internship as an Internal Medicine specialist at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona coincided with the first AIDS case reported in Spain. This case was the catalyst for a career dedicated to this serious disease, first as head of the HIV Unit of the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital in Badalona (1987-2015) and then as founder and president of the Fight against AIDS Foundation (1992), which is now named as Fight Infections Foundation.

Dr. Clotet soon saw the need to go a step beyond patient care to conduct research aimed at eradicating AIDS. In 1995, with the support of “la Caixa” and the Department of Health of the Generalitat of Catalonia, he founded the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, which he still heads.  In addition, Dr. Clotet is also the clinical director of Infectious Diseases at the Metropolitana Nord area of the Catalan Institute of Health, scientific advisor to two IrsiCaixa spin-offs: Aelix Therapeutics SL and AlbaJuna Therapeutics SL and director of the Chair of AIDS and Related Diseases at the Universitat de Vic (UVic).

He has published more than 1000 papers in high impact international journals and his contributions to research have been recognized with the Josep Trueta medal to Sanitary Merit and the ‘Premi Nacional de Recerca’, among other awards.

Eugènia Negredo completed the specialty of Internal Medicine at the Sant Pau Hospital, Barcelona, in 1998. She received her Ph.D. in Medicine from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, in 2002. Since 1999, Dr. Negredo works as a physician in the HIV Unit of Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital in Barcelona, and she leads the research group focused on the epidemiology, pathogenesis and treatment of different HIV- and antiretroviral-related complications. She is also Associate Professor of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Universitat de Vic.

Dr. Sereti is the Chief of the HIV Pathogenesis Section in the Laboratory of Immunoregulation at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). She received her Medical Degree at the National University of Athens in Greece and did her Internal Medicine residency and Chief residency at Northwestern University in Chicago. She completed an MHS from Duke University and her Infectious Diseases fellowship at NIAID and stayed at NIAID as clinical investigator receiving tenure in 2015. Her group focuses on studies of HIV-associated inflammation and Idiopathic CD4 lymphopenia along with some work on COVID pathogenesis, in both the clinic and the laboratory. She is a physician scientist who has conducted multiple clinical trials and has published more than 200 peer reviewed papers. Dr Sereti is currently an ELAM fellow and is one of the upcoming Associate Editors of the Journal of Infectious Diseases on her personal time. She is also a member of the Executive committee of the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars program. She is passionate about translational research with excellence in patient care, mentorship, and promotion of women in biomedical sciences.

José Alcamí (MD,PhD) is specialist in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Immunology. Currently, as Research Professor, leads the AIDS Immunopathogenesis Unit at Instituto de Salud Carlos III and coordinates the Spanish AIDS Research Network. In 2019 was appointed as Scientific Director of the HIV Unit at Hospital Clinic, he is an expert in HIV pathogenesis and author of more than 190 publications in high rank journals.

Marta Martín Flix is an associate professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), where she teaches cell biology in various degree programs at the Faculty of Biosciences. She also teaches cellular origin and culture techniques, as well as human pathologies caused by chromosomal alterations in the Master’s program in Reproductive Biology and Cytogenetics at UAB. She is also the deputy coordinator of the Biology program.

Professor Patrick (Paddy) Mallon is Professor of Microbial Diseases in the UCD School of Medicine and a Consultant in Infectious Diseases in St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin. He graduated in Medicine from Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland and undertook subsequent clinical training in infectious disease medicine in Sydney, Australia where he completed a PhD in long-term toxicities in HIV. Professor Mallon returned to Ireland in 2007 and has led the development of an active research programme in Infectious Diseases. In 2008 he established the HIV Molecular Research Group, which focuses on translational research into toxicities of antiretroviral therapy, strategies to increase population HIV testing and studies aimed at better understanding immune responses to antiretroviral treatment. Professor Mallon is a past-president of the Infectious Diseases Society of Ireland, a regional representative for the European AIDS Clinical Society and the incoming Chair of the co-morbidities Guidelines Panel of the European AIDS Clinical Society. Professor Mallon is also the Director of the Wellcome-Health Research Board Irish Clinical Academic Training Programme.

Pedro Cahn has been Scientific Director of Fundación Huésped since 1989 and former President of the International AIDS Society (IAS) for the period 2006-2008. Former Head and current Consultant of the Infectology Division of the Juan A. Fernández Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is also Full Professor of the Department of Medicine, Infectology Orientation, of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires. Dr. Cahn has been involved in international HIV/AIDS conferences and working groups since 1989, including the 1st Conference on Pathogenesis and Treatment of IAS in Argentina and the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico, which he chaired. Likewise, on repeated occasions, he has acted as an advisor to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS. He is an Illustrious Citizen of the City of Buenos Aires and received the honorable mention “Senator Domingo F. Sarmiento” by the Senate of the Nation (2014).